Picking a Green Brain
by PickleInACup
Summary: Scourge is forced to attend psycho-therapy and face the dark and terrible memories that haunts him during his imprisonment in the no Zone.
1. Chapter 1

Picking a Green Brain

A/n: Hello there. This is my first attempt at a Sonic the Hedgehog fanfic. I intend for this to be short; 5 chapters at the longest. It's essentially an analysis of the character Scourge the Hedgehog from the Archie comics. The plot is cliché. We learn about a villain's past through therapy sessions, but hopefully I will make this interesting and enjoyable.

It's a bit of a prelude to a comic I'm working on .com/art/Title-Stated-Later-page-1-148758243. I'm an old Sonic fan, but a relatively new reader of the comics, so forgive me if I screw up a name or event somewhere. I will try my best to uphold the cannon while throwing my fan theories around here and there.

Let's begin, shall we? =]

Chapter 1: Get Comfy, Junior

Scourge flashed Officers Zector and Zespio a sharp tooth grin from atop his lumpy cell cot. "I know I'm sexy, but it's impolite to gawk."

"Put your hands on your head and keep our mouth **shut**, Scourge." Zector ordered as he unlocked the thick iron bars separating the green hedgehog from the hallway.

Scourge begrudgingly did as instructed. The zone cops cuffed him then escorted him out.

Zector gave the chain to Scourge's restraints a quick yank. "Quit trying to rush ahead." The gator growled.

"Quit dragging ass and maybe I won't get the urge to, flatfoot." Scourge sneered. "Where are you taking me anyways?"

"Save questions for later." Zespio replied. "Step lively."

"Make up your mind! Ya want me to speed up or slow down?"

The zone officers did not respond. Instead they gave Scourge a rough shove forward. Scourge mumbled an expletive or two as he stumbled on a deep crack in the floor. He focused his sight through the rose-tinted frames of his sunglasses as he was led down the long, dimly lit steel hallways of the no-zone prison. It was the only way he could see color since Zonic locked him up. Everything within the prison consisted of reinforced steel, iron and stone; all a hideously drab gray. That color scheme got real boring real quick.

The décor was the least of Scourge's problems at this point, however. His biggest concern was finding a way to remove that fucking control collar still clasped tightly around his throat. Without it he could easily saw the prison in half along with every officer patrolling it. Then he would be free to seek revenge on Sonic. He nearly busted a nut thinking about it.

Zespio elbowed him in the back of his head. "What the hell are you smiling about?"

Scourge flashed the chameleon a confused expression. He was too deep in his daydream to realize he had been grinning. His expression immediately hardened and he lashed out at Zespio, exhaling a fierce snarl.

Zector yanked on his chain, forcing his arms behind his back. "Cool it unless you want to be sedated again."

Scourge put on a false innocent smile. The tranquilizers used by the zone cop was potent stuff. He had been forced into the rabbit hole on two occasions since his imprisonment via syringe. He would rather not go there again. "No officer. I'll be a good boy."

The two officers exchanged skeptical glances through their helmets then continued forward.

A long and rather humiliating walk later, Scourge found himself in a section of the prison he had never been in before. It looked more like a mental clinic than a penitentiary. Zector and Zespio forced him to halt in front of a wooden door with a large tinted window.

"We'll be back for you in one hour." Zespio informed him before he and Zector shoved Scourge through the door.

Scourge turned around. The door had already been locked behind him. "What the fuck is going on here?" He wondered aloud.

"Good morning, Sonic. Or Scourge is it now?"

Startled by the nasally and vaguely familiar voice, Scourge looked over his shoulder. A rather short, overlander with thinning tawny brown hair, a weak chin and a big nose sat behind a freshly dusted wooden desk. He wore a green casual suit jacket and a pleasant grin. Adjacent to the desk was a plush couch with soft cushions.

Scourge bared his fangs at the human. "Who the fuck are you?"

"Don't recognize me, do you?" The human smirked. "My name is Dr. Collin Kintobor, criminal psychology. Top expert in my field on Moebius."

"We'll good for you…" Scourge's ears perked a bit. "Oh yeah…I remember _you_. You were just some pussy college boy back then." The hedgehog's expression hardened. "You never got me to talk during those stupid troubled youth counseling sessions and you won't get me to talk now!"

Collin stood and leaned against the corner of his desk. "Oh yes I will, Scourge. You have nowhere else to go and nothing better to do besides-" He reached into his black slacks pockets and pulled out a shiny key. "If you agree to sit and get comfortable I'll consider removing your shackles." He motioned to the couch.

Scourge refused to budge. "You're not afraid I'll pounce on you and rip your throat out if you free my hands?"

"Me worried about you? Ha! You can't take me with that control collar on, junior."

Scourge shot him a death glare. "Call me junior ever again and I'll **bite** your throat out, Doc."

"Temper temper." Collin waved his pointer finger at him. "Remember, the zone force is in control here. They call the shots, not you. They're paying me top dollar to analyze your behavioral deviancy. Zonic wants me to pinpoint the root of your destructive impulses and to hopefully find someway of turning you into a semi-functional member of society."

Scourge couldn't help but chuckle. "About two weeks ago I **ruled **society. So I think I'm pretty god damn functional, thank you very much."

Collin frowned. "Not according to the law. If we make some progress with your behavior, I might be able to convince the warden to remove your control collar too."

The overlander caught his attention. "Fine…" Scourge swallowed his pride and sat on the couch. He decided he could act his way to a clean bill of mental health. Once they removed his control collar, he would have the multi-verse in the palm of his gloved hands. "So, where would you like to start, doc?"

Collin leaned forward, reached behind Scourge's back and slipped his key in the lock. "Now was that so hard?"

Scourge responded with a growl as he rubbed his now free wrists.

Collin grabbed a pen and a clipboard off his desk and took a seat in the armchair placed across the patient's couch. He flipped through some papers, skimming through the text. "I must admit, after reading your criminal records I find you to be quite a fascinating case. Vandalism, assault, high treason, murder, and that's not including your high crimes against the multi-verse-"

Scourge put his feet up, flashing a toothy grin as he brushed his knuckles against his chest smugly. "When I'm awesome, I'm awesome."

Collin dismissed his comment. "I have not been on Moebius for some time now, but my Uncle told me you started quite an upheaval back home. Violence plagues the streets. Many Moebians still live in fear of the remaining members of the Suppression Squad. Needless to say, My uncle Ivo is quite a busy veterinarian."

Scourge beamed with pride. "No kidding. So, who wound up taking the throne? That cunt Alicia or that little puke Miles? I'll put a bullet through my skull right now if you tell me that pretentious faggot, Patch muscled his way to the top."

"I am under strict orders not to reveal specific details about the political state of Moebius at this time."

Scourge shrugged indifferently. "Whatever. Could we begin before I'm old?"

Collin glanced down at his files once again. "Yes. Let's pick up where left off at your youth counseling, shall we?"

"You're referring to the incident where I turned that other hedgehog into a fucking eunuch with a hunting knife?" Scourge recalled the memory much too casually for comfort. "Not bad for a fucking thirteen-year-old, hu?"

Collin nodded. "Hard core, indeed. The assault charges were dropped because you were still a minor and the jury ruled that your actions were made in self defense. What happened to put you in that situation?"

Scourge frowned. "You really want to know?"

"It's my job to find out."

The green hedgehog hunched forward. He sighed as he adjusted the frames of his sunglasses. "My eighth grade year wasn't the _worst_ year of my life, but it was one of them." Scourge paused. He looked down and realized his hands were shaking and his feet were twitching. "Two week nic-fit. What hell. Ya got a cigarette?"

"Of course." Collin reached into his coat pocket, pulled out a half empty pack and took out two cigarettes and a lighter. One he placed in his mouth and lit it. The other he handed to Scourge.

Scourge leaned forward, allowing Collin to light his cigarette for him.

Collin exhaled a cloud of smoke as the hedgehog inhaled a long, clean drag. "Please continue."

a/n: Okay, how was that? Please review. Praise and flames welcomed. This story is dedicated to my good friend, K-chan for dragging me into the fannon XD and to a fellow Scourge obsessor ShadamyMephonic. Hope you two enjoy this.

PS: In case this wasn't clear to anyone, Dr. Collin Kintobor is the anti-Snively (I have no idea if an anti Snively has already appeared in the comics, but if he has, my bad. It's almost 3-am. I'm not turning back now XD)


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: The Castration

Scourge slowly exhaled a cloud of smoke. The nicotine settled in his system almost instantly and his hands quit shaking. "Guess I should back track a few years. This isn't going to make much sense to you if I don't."

"Do what you feel comfortable doing." Collin urged gently.

Scourge gritted his fangs. He would have given anything to smack Collin's condescending nose off his face, but he resisted the urge for now. "Let's get one thing out of the way right now. Eighty-five percent of what's wrong with me stems from my father."

Collin scribbled something down on his clipboard. "Is that so?"

He nodded. "Yeah. Jules Hedgehog, if you recall, was a highly esteemed ambassador and diplomat for the Acorn Kingdom. He and the rest of King Max's dignitaries started campaigning for the Great Peace a few years before I was spawned." Scourge took another drag and exhaled, choking a bit. "Great Peace. What a crock of shit that was. Did you support the Great Peace back in the day, Doc?"

Collin shrugged. "I was a teenager then. Too busy obsessing over how to lose my virginity and trying to convince my uncle to sneak my friends and I alcohol to have much of a political opinion, but I guess you could say I supported the cause. Not too many people were against it. How could you speak out against ending war, hunger and oppression and _not _look like an asshole?"

Scourge laughed. "Guess I never had those inhibitions. Do you believe in peace? Do you really think it's possible?"

The therapist paused from his note taking to flash Scourge a cross look. "Honestly? No. I believe peace is something that can only be achieved on a personal level, but my beliefs are not important here. Quit beating around the bush."

Scourge rolled his eyes as he took one last drag off his cigarette before putting it out in the ash tray. "Fine, Dr. Douche-bag; have it your way. Where was I?"

"Your father."

"Right. He spent a lot of time traveling from kingdom to kingdom- giving speeches, signing papers, shaking hands, smiling pretty for the crowds, fucking high-class prostitutes and embezzling tax payer's money- all for the cause of course. I guess you could say his workaholism started to put a strain on my mom after awhile. She became a heavy drinker. Wild Turky was her favorite." Scourge's snout crinkled a bit. " I can still smell the stuff. Eventually, she drank her way to a failing liver and through a nasty divorce. Being a raging alcoholic, family court in all their wisdom ruled her an unfit mother and gave full custody to my pops. Lucky me."

"So you had to travel alongside Jules during his good-will missions?"

A harsh chuckle escaped Scourge's throat. "My dad actually taking the time to raise me? Are you retarded? No, dad dumped me off on my uncle Charlie and my aunt Josephine just before I turned seven. That's when life actually started to get **good **for a while…"

Collin eyed the young green hedgehog as he closed his eyes and leaned forward. Scourge expression sobered as he became deep in thought. The image of a kindly old hedgehog with slate blue fur, bushy white eyebrows and mustache and a pair of coke-bottle frames formed in his head.

"Uncle Charlie was the coolest, man. I miss him." Scourge admitted.

"I take it your uncle is no longer with us?"

"Died of a heroine overdose. It's not what you think. He wasn't a junkie. He had been clean for years when I started living with him."

Collin nodded. "I see. And you two were close?"

Scourge scowled. "My Uncle Charlie was more of father to me than Jules **ever** was. He was a brilliant Moebian, smartest fucking guy on the planet, but a bit of a hippie- not a two faced preachy hippie like my father, but an true old-school hippie. He was top student in his engineering college before he decided experimenting with drugs and following music festivals around was more enriching than learning and inventing. Used to say science corrupts. Kind of oddball, but a good guy. Ran a music store called "Charlie's Records" and fixed motorcycles as a side job. He used to let Autumn and I help him out around the store. After school and on weekends"

"Autumn?" Collin interrupted.

"My cousin; Charlie and Josephine's daughter. She was older than me by four years, but we got along so well, we barely ever noticed." A smile; not a smirk or a snide grin, but a genuine smile formed on Scourge's muzzle. "We were such good friends, I even started to refer to her as my sister in public. We hung out in the store after school every fucking day and listened to whatever music we could get a hold of. Uncle Charlie collected ancient overlander music for whatever reason. Crazy shit, all of it. It was **loud**! It was **heavy**! It gave colors sound and vibrations texture and words soul-" Scourge coughed nervously. "That's what uncle Charlie used to say anyways."

Collin smirked. "Of course."

Scourge looked to his lap and scratched behind his quills a bit before continuing. "Uncle Charlie used to give us guitar lessons after closing. It was the only time I could ever sit still. _He _never used to yell at me for running no matter what. Said if running was my gift then I should run with it." He smirked. "It used to piss Autumn off so much 'cause I mastered whole songs in half the time it took her. She busted a gibson over my head once because I kept calling her "spaz fingers". Aunt Josephine grounded her for it and I just laughed. Other than that we got along great. I could talk to her about _anything _and she would listen and I could ask her any question and she would give me an honest answer. She was the mom my mom failed to be. I mean, Aunt Josephine was nice and took and care of me and stuff, but she was born a deaf/ mute albino, so it was kind of hard to communicate with her sometimes, y'know? Our friendship kind of went to shit after Autumn started high school though."

"Sorry to hear that." Collin did a good job of sounding sincere. It pissed Scourge off to no end. "What happened between you two?"

There came a long, awkward pause from Scourge. "She grew up. I didn't understand why she kept drifting away then. I was just a kid and it used to piss me off when she started dragging her new guy friends to the house. I admit, I had a bit of a crush on her-" He suddenly realized what he was saying out loud and bit his tongue. He lifted his sun glasses and flashed the therapist a fierce scowl. "Before you go jotting down any more bullshit and start spewing some freaky Fraud psycho babble at me, let's get this straight- I **don't **get off on perverted shit- at least not incest. It **wasn't** that kind of attraction. It was stupid puppy love for the only female in my life that ever genuinely gave a shit about me, got it?"

"That thought never crossed my mind." Collin assured the agitated Moebian. "I'm not here to judge you, Scourge. I'm here to analyze you."

"There's no difference. And even if you argue that there is, I don't give a shit what you think about me!" Scourge added, tapping his thumb against his chest.

Collin's lips formed a thin smile. "Then why bother defending your affections for your cousin to me?"

A growl escaped Scourge's throat as he kicked the side of the desk. He didn't have anything slick to say in response to that one. "That's it. We're through here."

Collin glanced at the clock. "Wrong. There's twenty minutes left in the session and believe it or not, you're making headway. By all means finish your thoughts."

Scourge crossed his arms over his chest and sighed. "Making headway? What the fuck was that supposed to mean? What kind of mind-fuck is this quack trying to lay on me?" He pondered inwardly.

Collin eyed Scourge. It began to irritate the hedgehog, so he forced himself to speak. "Autumn was a lot like Uncle Charlie." He continued hesitantly. "She was brainy- a straight A student, but when you looked past the glasses, the long skirts and librarian blouses, you realized she was pretty hot. Unfortunately a lot of the assholes she went to school with started to realize that when she entered her junior year…"

(Begin flashback)

The memory came to Scourge in a flash and with crystal clear clarity.

It was a Monday afternoon. He had skipped the last period when his gym teacher sent the boys out to run laps on the track. Scourge sprinted ahead and didn't stop running until he was in Uncle Charlie's living room. Who would miss him?

He sat on the couch, struggling to pluck the strings on an acoustic guitar, which he still was too small to really hold properly. Despite this, he played the rhythm to "Pinball Wizard" flawlessly. His fur was still blue, his eyes still green, his sneakers still red, his virginity and innocence still in tact. He kicked his left foot against the edge of the couch just as Uncle Charlie taught him to do to help keep the beat.

_"Autumn quit playing guitar when she started dating Milo. It didn't impress him, so she lost interest I guess."_

The front door opened. Autumn walked in with her gloved hand clasped tightly in the large hand of a tall male hedgehog with orange quills, a sun darkened muzzle wearing a football jacket and carrying a football under his free arm. Her sky blue quills were styled to perfection and her nerdy clothing was replaced with a short pleated skirt and a low cut pink blouse upon Milo's request.

_"She was letting some senior year football star change her for the worst. I still don't understand why. Why were his __**false **__affections so fucking important? Maybe he just convinced her they were real. I don't know. Guess females can't help who they fall for…" _

They walked past young Scourge_, _still hand in hand.

_ "I saw her smile up at him and I broke a string."_

Milo ruffled Scourge's quills rougher than necessary. "Nice one, shit head." he sneered.

Scourge flipped him the bird once his back was turned.

Autumn glanced back at him. "Sonic, Milo and I are going to talk upstairs in my room for awhile."

"Yeah, talk." Milo snickered.

Autumn slapped his chest playfully. "Oh stop!" She giggled. "We'll be down in a little while. Walk the dog for me, would you?"

"Okay." Scourge hopped off the couch and headed for the door. He didn't want to be in the house if Milo was in it anyways.

The jock hedgehog tried to trip him when he walked by. Scourge managed to catch his bearings. "Hey!"

"No running in the house, kiddo." Milo scolded before Autumn led him up the stairs.

_"Smartest kid in school and she was too fucking stupid to realize he was just trying to get under her skirt. It came back to bite her in the ass later though. I walked in her in the bathroom one night a few weeks after prom. She was huddled between the crapper and the tub, crying her eyes out."_

Young Scourge knelt down and put his hands on her shoulder. "What's wrong? Are you okay?"

Autumn shook her head no, choking on a sob. "Sonic, I'm… I'm pregnant!"

All color drained from his cheeks. "Pregnant?! But, but-"

She buried her nose in her knees. "What am I going to do? How can I tell mom? Dad's going to **kill** me, Sonic! What am I going to do?"

_"She kept asking that! What was I supposed to tell her? I shouldn't have felt sorry for her. The situation was her fault. But, I did. I felt sorry for her and I couldn't stand to watch her cry like that."_

Young scourge embraced his weeping cousin in a hug. "It'll be okay. You'll get through this."

"I can't let mom and dad know. They'll throw me out! They'll never talk to me again. They'll hate me!"

"No they won't. There's no point in avoiding them. You won't be able to hide this for long."

_"She was afraid her folks would lose all respect for her- a justified fear. Autumn was the smartest kid in school, voted most likely to succeed and she got knocked up at seventeen for nut's sake! I-I convinced her to tell Uncle Charlie and Aunt Josephine about her pregnancy. I promised I'd stay close by and I kind of wish I hadn't. They took the news better than she expected them too, but worse than I expected them to. Aunt Josephine had never stuck either of us EVER until that night. _

_ Uncle Charlie told Autumn to confront Milo about the baby. She was about five months along before she worked up the nerve. She begged me to come with her to his dorm for moral support. I went in case he let her down. I knew he would, but I didn't say anything to her. I just stood in the corner, kept my trap hut and watched. The longer I stood and listened, the more pissed I got-"_

"This is **half** your responsibility too!" Autumn cried, tears streaming down her peachy cheeks.

"Bullshit it is! You told me you were on the pill!"

"I WAS on the pill! It didn't work! I don't know why!"

"Well, I'm not giving up my scholarship for your brat! This is YOUR problem! YOU deal with it!"

"I'm not leaving, Milo!"

"Yes you ARE!" The jock hedgehog grabbed her by the wrist and started to force her out the door.

"STOP!" Scourge lunged at the older hedgehog, punching him in the kidneys. "Let her go!"

"Get the fuck away from me!" Milo swatted the young Scourge away like a gnat then proceeded to drag Autumn out the door.

Scourge rubbed the lump forming on the back of his head. He pulled himself to his feet. Through blurred vision he spotted his pregnant cousin struggling to squirm free from her ex boyfriend's grip. Next thing he knew, Autumn was tumbling down the stairs. Then something inside snapped.

(end flashback)

By this point Scourge was placing the floor. A crazed, enraged spark gleamed in his blue eyes and burned through the rose-colored lenses of his glasses.

"I spin dashed that sleazy mother fucker right into the wall! He must have hit his head pretty hard, cause I was able to pin him on the floor fairly easily. I wanted to kill him so badly, but I wanted to make him **suffer** first! So I did the first thing that came to mind, pulled out the hunting knife I slipped in the lip of my glove and slashed at his crotch. Cut his entire unit clean off. I was hoping he'd bleed to death, but I'm happy Milo lived. A life with no pecker is the only existence I can think of worse than _this _one!"

"So I take it you feel no remorse for what you did to Milo?"

"NO! None whatsoever! I'd do it again in a heartbeat if I had the chance! I'd have done it **before** he ever put his filthy fucking mitts on her!"

Collin motioned for Scourge to keep still. "All right, all right, calm down. This is all very good. You need to-"

Scourge slapped the clipboard from Collin's fingers. "Good? GOOD?" He screamed in the overlander's face. "The fall down the stairs caused Autumn to miscarry! She was devastated over it! She hung herself in her bedroom a week later!"

Scourge dropped to his knees, quivering. He clenched his eyes shut as if to hold in tears. "I never expected her to off herself. She…she didn't act depressed in front of me or her folks. Things actually started looking brighter for her after her baby died. She had her life back. She could have started college. She could have…" Scourge let out a groan of disgust.

Collin's ever stern, yet calm and concerned expression remained frozen on his face. "What happened after that?"

"Things were never quite the same between uncle Charlie and me. I was the last person to see her alive, so he associated me with her death, I guess. He disowned me. Not out loud, but he did. I could see it in his eyes whenever he looked at me. Something just wasn't there anymore…Next thing I knew I was back living with my dad and-"

Scourge heard the door squeak open. He instinctively jumped to his feet and tried to put on his natural tough-guy composure. Zespio and Zector stepped into the room, saluting.

"Good morning, Dr. Kintobor." Zector greeted the overlander. "Scourge's hour is up."

Collin stood and smoothed down his jacket. "Very good, fellows. That went well, Scourge, especially for our first session. See you next week."

Scourge didn't have it in him to respond at the moment. The zone cops grabbed his arms and began to lead him towards the exit. They were surprised by how much less difficult it was to lead him out than in.

Zespio glanced back at Collin. "What happened to his hand cuffs?"

"Oh. He won't be needing those in here, officers. Will, you Scourge?"

Scourge managed to shake his head no. The zone cups shrugged indifferently and proceeded to escort him back to his cell.

They shoved him inside and slammed the bars shut. Scourge heard the metallic clang of steel against stone, but it sounded muffled as if he were miles away at the moment. As if in a trance he sulked back to his lumpy cot and laid down on his side. He stayed in the fetal position for several hours before falling asleep.

He wasn't looking forward to next week.

a/n: Chapter two done! Woo. Thanks to anyone who has read and reviewed so far. Hope I can keep your interest until the end. Input always appreciated. Rock on everybody.


End file.
